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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered that all flags on New York City’s buildings be flown at half-staff and called Koch the city’s “most charismatic cheerleader and champion.”

“Earlier today, New York City lost an irrepressible icon, our most charismatic cheerleader and champion, Edward I. Koch. He was a great mayor, a great man, and a great friend,” Bloomberg said in a public statement. “In elected office and as a private citizen, he was our most tireless, fearless, and guileless civic crusader.”

Bloomberg continued: “Through his tough, determined leadership and responsible fiscal stewardship, Ed helped lift the city out of its darkest days and set it on course for an incredible comeback. We will miss him dearly, but his good works — and his wit and wisdom — will forever be a part of the city he loved so much.”

Bloomberg said that he wasn’t just speaking on behalf of himself but for all New Yorkers in saying that Koch will be deeply missed.

“His spirit will live on not only here at City Hall, and not only on the bridge the bears his name, but all across the five boroughs. I’m expressing my condolences on behalf of all 8.4 million New Yorkers, and I know so many of them will be keeping Mayor Koch and his family and friends in their thoughts and prayers,” Bloomberg said in the statement.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that for Koch, “every atom in his body” was New York City.

“New Yorkers were particularly proud of Mayor Koch because he was so proud of New York. Every atom in his body lived, breathed, spoke, and exuded the city,” Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer continued: “He helped save the city and, perhaps most important of all, gave it confidence when it was beginning to doubt itself, which helped pave the way for the growth and prosperity we’re still experiencing today. Every New Yorker will miss Ed Koch, and his towering presence.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand also mourned Koch’s passing in a statement Friday, remembering him as someone who embodied New York.

“I am deeply saddened that we have lost a true champion for New Yorkers,” Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “Mayor Ed Koch was as singular and unique to New York City as the Empire State Building. I will always fondly remember the last time I saw the Mayor, our conversation went from Middle East policy, to the best Chinese food in New York City to movies, only as Ed Koch could. His great intellect, wit, humor, passion and compassion will be greatly missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family.”

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) called Koch a “true friend and trusted adviser.”

“I am terribly saddened by the passing of Mayor Ed Koch. Ed Koch was a true friend and trusted adviser. Ed Koch personified the spirit of New York. New York’s Mayor For Life is now New York’s Mayor for eternity. May he Rest In Peace,” King said in a public statement.

Christine Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council, earned an early endorsement for a future mayoral run from Koch about a year ago. On Friday, she offered warm words for the former mayor.

“Mayor Koch was larger than life,” the possible 2013 mayoral contender tweeted. “He stood taller than the bridge that bears his name. His sense of humor personified this town. He was NY.”

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly of the New York Police Department referenced Koch’s deep love of the city in local newsreports.

“I was privileged to consider him a friend and I am grateful that I had a few more times to be with him, on Tuesday and again last night, before he finally left New York for someplace better - although he’d probably argue that’s not possible,” Kelly said.

New Yorker and Democratic strategist Richard Socarides called him “larger than life,” who gave the city “tough love” the same way parents might to their child.

“[He was] larger than life — you know, when I was growing up here in Manhattan, he was mayor. He was very feisty, he said what he thought, New Yorkers loved him. What he really gave to New York was some tough love, often like sometimes a parent does,” Socarides said on CNN’s “Starting Point.”

Socarides continued: “I mean he would say whatever he thought and was famous for saving the city from bankruptcy, but also governing at very challenging times — the beginning of the AIDS crisis, a time also when there was a lot of … issues related to diversity and racial tension in New York. And so he served during very challenging times [and] took very controversial positions. But nobody questioned that he really loved this city and was a fighter for New York.”

From former GOP presidential nominee spokesman Kevin Madden to Slate’s Sasha Issenberg, many took to Twitter to offer their thoughts: